English 598: Rhetoric, Argument, and Writing. Fall 2017 Section A-01. Subject to Changes and Additions Contact Information josh.welsh@cwu.edu Office: L&L 408D Phone: 509-963-1549 There is another Josh Welsh on campus. Typing my name in to Outlook sometimes gets you his email address. Check to make sure you are emailing josh.welsh@cwu.edu! Email or the Canvas Messaging function is the best way to get ahold of me, but I generally don t check email in the evenings (after about 5pm) or over the weekend. I try to respond to email very quickly during the week, so if you don t hear back from me within a day or so, please check the email address and check up on the status of your question. I would rather be reminded that you had a question than have you feel frustrated and ignored! Office Hours My regular office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-5 pm. I'll be happy to visit with you about the class. If my regular hours don't work for you, email or message me to set up a time that does. Feel free to call my office line any time, and leave a detailed voicemail with contact information if I don't pick up. Textbook and Requirements Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzberg, eds. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, 2001. Print. Assigned Articles will be made available on Canvas. You will also need to do extensive independent reading to support your final papers. Catalog Description This course covers the foundations of rhetorical and argumentative theory as applied to writing. Students will apply theoretical foundations to engage in rhetorical analysis and criticism. Course Outcomes Below are the course outcomes for ENG 598. 1. Students will demonstrate a foundational understanding of key rhetorical thinkers and theorists from a wide range of historical periods.
2. Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze and critique discursive objects using rhetorical theories. 3. Students will demonstrate a mastery of a small selection of rhetorical theories or approaches. 4. Students will lead discussions of current case studies involving rhetorical analysis and/or criticism. 5. Students will engage in scholarly discourse surrounding current case studies that deploy rhetorical analysis or criticism. 6. Students will demonstrate the ability to generate proposals or ideas capable of generating new knowledge in the field of rhetoric. The assignments and activities that you will do throughout the class are geared towards achieving these outcomes. How to Succeed in this Class Do all of the assigned reading. Participate in the online discussions. Read and re-read the assignment prompts. Contact me by phone, email, or Canvas with specific questions about your writing projects. Page and Word Counts Each assignment prompt indicates a required page and word count for your work. If a page count is indicated, your papers should be double-spaced and use a 12-point font. Times New Roman or Calibri are preferred fonts. Your paper must have 1-inch margins. If you start tinkering with font sizes and margins to achieve the required page count, your paper will be marked down drastically. The same goes for unnecessary use of the return key. To be considered a full page, the entire page must be covered with writing. Papers that come in short of the page or word count will be marked down proportionately. You should use MLA style for in-text citations and Works Cited pages. I still use the 7th edition. You are welcome to use the 8th edition if you prefer. Early Drafts I encourage you to send me early drafts of your writing along with specific questions. I am happy to try to answer any questions you may have. Grading I will provide rubrics with major assignments (those worth more than 100 points). You should read those rubrics and ask questions ahead of the deadline if anything is unclear. I grade on the following scale: A: Represents achievement that is outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements
B: Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements C: Represents achievement that meets the course requirements in every respect D: Represents achievement that is worthy of credit even though it fails to meet fully the course requirements At the end of the quarter I round up according to standard rounding conventions. This means that if you have a 93.4% at the end of the quarter, you will get an A-. If you have a 93.5%, you will get an A. The following table summarizes the grading scale for this class: Letter Grade Range A 100% to 94% A- < 94% to 90% B+ < 90% to 87% B < 87% to 84% B- < 84% to 80% C+ < 80% to 77% C < 77% to 74% C- < 74% to 70% D+ < 70% to 67% D < 67% to 64% D- < 64% to 61% F < 61% to 0% File Formats For work that is turned in online, you must provide a.docx,.doc, or.pdf file, and I must be able to open the file. If I can t open the file, I ll ask you to resend and the assignment will be counted as late, according the policy described below. (Note that OpenOffice allows you to save your file as.doc, which is fine.) If you would like to submit your documentation project in an alternate format, you must negotiate that with me ahead of time. Extensions on Major Assignments If you need an extension because something arose that is outside of your control, please feel free to ask. I am happy to negotiate reasonable extensions on major assignments, as long as you can complete the negotiation before the assignment is due! For practical purposes, this means that you need to ask for an extension by mid-day Friday at the latest. Requests that are made after 5 pm Friday will not be considered. I won t grant extensions for any activities worth less than 50 points.
Late Work Major assignments will be marked down one letter grade for every day that they are late. After ten days, I will not accept the paper. It is your responsibility to turn your work in on time. I will not provide reminders if you have assignments that are late or missing. Late submissions for assignments worth fewer than 100 points will not be accepted. Revisions Once turned in, assignments cannot be revised again for credit. However, you are encouraged to send me drafts of your work for comments and feedback, which generally help improve the final product. If you'd like feedback on a draft, you need to get it to me with a reasonable amount of time to read it and provide feedback. In other words, sending a draft on Friday afternoon for an assignment due on Friday night will not result in helpful feedback. Scholastic Integrity It is ridiculously easy to tell when a student has plagiarized in this class. Most assignments are processed by plagiarism detection software by default. If it appears that you have indeed plagiarized, we will have an uncomfortable talk. If it appears that you intentionally presented the ideas of someone else as your own, I will report that behavior to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and the process outlined in the CWU Academic Dishonesty policy will be followed. If it is determined that you did plagiarize, you will receive an F for the class. The Academic Dishonesty Policy can be found here:http://www.cwu.edu/resourcesreports/cwup-5-90-0104-academic-dishonesty (Links to an external site.) If you have any questions about how to properly cite your work, see me before the paper is due. It s not plagiarism until you turn it in for credit. After you turn it in for credit, it doesn t matter whether you meant to do it or just didn t understand how to cite properly! Reusing papers written for another class is considered self-plagiarism and is subject to the same policies as any other kind of plagiarism. Finally, it should go without saying that you must do your own work for this class. Except for assignments that are specifically directed towards your writing group, all of your writing must be 100% your own. Disruptive Behavior Behavior that is disruptive of class or disrespectful of other students will affect your performance and ultimately your grade. Please treat others in this class with respect and follow the guidelines of the student conduct code.
Documented Disabilities Central Washington University is committed to creating a learning environment that meets the needs of its diverse student body. If you anticipate or experience any barriers to learning, discuss your concerns with the instructor. Students with disabilities should contact Disability Services to discuss a range of options for removing barriers, including accommodations. Student Disability Services is located in Hogue 126. Call (509) 963-2214 or email ds@cwu.edu for more information. Assignments The assignments in this class are weighted according to the following groups: Participation in Online Discussions: 15% Reading Responses: 15% Annotated Bibliography: 20% Conference Proposal: 20% Final Paper: 30% Reading and Writing Calendar Every week (with the exception of Week 10) you will participate in a discussion over the assigned readings and you will write a brief reading response. Additional assignments are listed below under the weeks they are due. See Canvas for specific deadlines. The Rhetorical Tradition has been abbreviated as TRT in the reading list below. Classical Rhetoric Week 1 TRT Introduction to Classical Rhetoric, pages 17-25 (Skip section on Isocrates), pages 28-32 (Skip Cicero), and 36-41. TRT, Gorgias, and the Encomium of Helen (pages 43-46) TRT, Plato and the Phaedrus (pages 80-86, 138-168) Week 2 TRT Aristotle, and selection from Rhetoric (pages 169-240) Week 3 TRT Quintilian, and selection from Institutes of Oratory (pages 359-428) D'Angelo, "Tropics of Invention" (On Canvas) Draft Research Question Due
Renaissance Rhetoric Week 4 TRT, Introduction to Renaissance Rhetoric, pages 553-580 TRT, Peter Ramus, and selection from Arguments in Rhetoric against Quintilian (pages 674-697) Week 5 TRT, Francis Bacon and selections from The Advancement of Learning and Novum Organum (pages 736-747) TRT, Madeleine de Scudéry and Of Conversation and Of Speaking too much, or too little. And how we ought to Speak (pages 761-779) O Rourke, et al. The Most Significant Passage on Rhetoric in the Works of Francis Bacon. (On Canvas) Annotated Bibliography Due Enlightenment Rhetoric Week 6 TRT, Introduction to Enlightenment Rhetoric, pages 791-798 TRT, John Locke and selection from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (pages 814-827) TRT, Mary Astell and selection from A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (pages 841-861) Revised Research Question Due Week 7 TRT Giambattista Vico and selection from On the Study Methods of Our Time (pages 862-878) Hahn, "Writing in the Age of Humans" (on Canvas) Conference Proposal Due Nineteenth-Century Rhetoric Week 8 TRT Introduction to Nineteen-Century Rhetoric, pages 983-999. TRT Sarah Gimké and Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman, III, IV, and XIV (pages 1045-160) TRT Frederick Douglass and selections from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, and The Life and Times and Frederick Douglass (pages 1061-184) Dorsey, "Becoming the Other: The Mimesis of Metaphor in Douglass's My Bondage and My Freedom" (On Canvas)
Modern Rhetoric Week 9 TRT Introduction to Modern and Postmodern Rhetoric (pages 1181-1205) TRT Kenneth Burke and selection from A Rhetoric of Motives (pages 1295-1298 and pages 1324-1340) TRT Chaim Perelman and selection from The New Rhetoric and The Realm of Rhetoric (pages 1372-1384) Week 10 TRT Stephen Toulmin and selection from The Uses of Argument and Logic and the Criticism of Arguments (pages 1410-1431) No discussion or reading response this week. Enjoy your holiday! Week 11 TRT Henry Louis Gates Jr. and excerpt from The Signifying Monkey and Language of Signifyin(g) (pages 1543-1581) Finals Week Final Paper Due